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Working with Peers Is Critical to Power System Reliability [PODCAST]

March 30, 2019

When conversations around the power industry turn to computer hacking, more often than not experts say it’s not a question of if, but rather, how systems have been compromised.

William Doering, adjunct professor in the online Master’s in Business Administration program at Maryville University and a director with Guidehouse—a management consulting services provider—said he has participated in various discussions on how to cleanse infection and how to ensure reliability after the fact. Speaking on The POWER Podcast, Doering said the Stuxnet computer worm and the Ukraine power grid cyberattack in 2015 should provide more than enough evidence that systems are vulnerable.

“For us to think that something like that hasn’t happened yet [in the U.S.] is definitely on the riskier side of optimistic,” Doering said.

“I think the level of sophistication that state-level actors provide is in many cases astounding,” he said. But even more worrisome to Doering is the fact that state-level-actor tools, which are extremely sophisticated, complex, and devastating, have been released and are now in the hands of the broader masses.…

CEOs Say Preserving the Nuclear Power Fleet Is Imperative

March 28, 2019

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Several power-sector CEOs—appearing at the Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) Summit in New York this week—suggested that existing nuclear power plants should not be allowed to slowly vanish from the U.S. electricity grid under market pressure caused by cheap natural gas and the growth of renewable energy. The leaders submitted that nuclear power provides important carbon-free energy needed to meet greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction goals.

“We have this issue in the U.S. around nuclear. It doesn’t compete against gas, but is a critical component of a decarbonized future,” said Audrey Zibelman, CEO and managing director of the Australian Energy Market Operator. Although Zibelman no longer resides in the U.S., she appeared to still have a vested interest in the country’s energy sector, having previously chaired the New York State Public Service Commission, and having been executive vice president and chief operating officer of the PJM Interconnection, among other things.

Ralph Izzo, chairman, president, and CEO of Public Service Enterprise Group Inc.…

Vogtle Loan Guarantees Praised, Criticized

March 24, 2019

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Energy Secretary Rick Perry on March 22 said his department will guarantee up to $ 3.7 billion in additional loans to finance continued construction of two new nuclear reactors at the Vogtle plant in Georgia. While Perry and other government officials stressed the importance of the project to the U.S. nuclear industry, critics called it a case of “throwing good money after bad.”

“The Vogtle project is critically important to supporting the [Trump] administration’s direction to revitalize and expand the U.S. nuclear industry,” said Perry on Friday in a ceremony at the Vogtle site near Waynesboro, Georgia. “A strong nuclear industry supports a reliable and resilient grid, and strengthens our energy and national security. As I’ve witnessed firsthand today, Vogtle is also an energy infrastructure project with a massive scope employing thousands of workers. This project is rebuilding a highly skilled U.S. nuclear workforce and supply chain for the future.”

Perry called the project “the real New Green Deal,” a mocking reference to a Democratic legislative effort on Capitol Hill designed to combat climate change.…

Siemens, Mitsubishi Discuss Merger of Turbine Units

March 22, 2019

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A German business magazine reports that Siemens is exploring options for its struggling gas turbine business, and could look to form a joint venture with Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI). Manager Magazin on March 21 said Siemens “wants to accommodate the large turbine business of the Japanese Mitsubishi Group and in the future hold only a minority.”

Reuters, citing two sources, on Thursday reported that Siemens wants a plan in place by its capital markets day for investors on May 8. The sources reportedly told Reuters that talks between Siemens and MHI “had intensified recently,” although Siemens reportedly is looking at other options for the business, including keeping it.

Manager Magazin on Thursday reiterated, as it has reported previously, that Siemens and MHI could combine their large gas and steam generators’ businesses. The magazine said Siemens CEO Joe Kaeser began talks with MHI in 2017 about a joint venture, with the intention to merge the companies’ turbine operations, with Siemens holding a minority stake.…

Gas Now Tops Coal in PJM, but Nuclear Still No. 1

March 20, 2019

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A report from an independent market monitor for PJM Interconnection shows that natural gas-fired power generation topped coal-fired output in PJM in 2018, the first time that gas has topped coal in the history of the largest U.S. grid operator.

The “2018 State of the Market” report from Monitoring Analytics LLC, which includes Volume 1 and Volume 2, was released March 14. It showed that while nuclear power continues to lead PJM electricity production, at 34.2%, natural gas-fired generation accounted for 30.6% of PJM’s power mix last year, while coal-fired units provided 28.6% of the region’s power.

The report showed that gas-fired generation in PJM rose by more than 18% in 2018. Coal generation dropped by 6.6%, and nuclear generation fell by 0.5%.

PJM serves 65 million people in all or parts of 13 states and the District of Columbia.

“This winter confirms what we have been seeing in PJM recently,” said PJM President and CEO Andrew L. Ott in a March 18 news release.…

Dominion Reaches Deal to Keep Millstone Nuclear Plant Open

March 18, 2019

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Dominion Energy has reached an agreement with utilities in Connecticut to keep the Millstone Power Station, the state’s only nuclear power plant, in service for at least another decade.

Dominion announced the deal March 15, the deadline the company had to tell ISO New England, the regional grid operator, whether it would retire the two reactors at the 2,088-MW plant.

The Millstone station produces about half the electricity in Connecticut. Analysts have said it also accounts for 98% of the state’s carbon-free power, and its operation is seen as key for the state to meet its carbon reduction goals.

“This is a huge win for Connecticut, the region, and our colleagues at Millstone,” Paul Koonce, president and chief executive of Dominion’s Power Generation Group, said in a statement. “Not only does this preserve the vast majority of Connecticut’s carbon-free electricity, it preserves good jobs for the 1,500 women and men who work at Millstone and keeps 4,000 other residents employed.”

Dominion, headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, has for years said that the Millstone station is no longer economic to operate.…